Paris Is Cracking Down on Airbnb Rentals, Again

Airbnb is a great option for travelers, especially for those looking to stay in ultra-residential neighborhoods and cook homemade meals. However, it's a pain for local governments, particularly in cities that attract the most tourists. In its latest attempt to crack down on Airbnb rentals, Paris is officially making it mandatory for landlords to register their lodgings with city hall before listing it to vacationers online, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

An earlier version of the measure was first announced in July and follows a tourist tax imposed by the city in May. According to the new policy, homeowners will need to obtain a registration number from the Paris mayor’s office if they intend to list it on Airbnb or similar short-term vacation platforms. A special registration website will open on October 2, and owners have until December to sign up.

The main reason for the crackdown has to do with a housing shortage in Paris. By renting out vacant spaces to visitors, landlords are essentially limiting the supply of available apartments to Parisians. The city also has a 120-day limit for homeowners to rent their properties, and is focusing its attention on owners with multiple rental listings on Airbnb.

Paris is one of Airbnb’s most popular destinations, with some 55,000 listings as of March 2017. Authorities have been to known to carry out random raids on illegally rented homes across the city, which would include apartments that aren’t registered online starting next month. Other European cities have imposed similar rules as Paris, including Barcelona, which requires landlords to register with the Tourism Registry of Catalonia, and Reykjavik, which passed a law in January stating that people can rent their homes for a maximum of 90 days a year before they need to obtain a hospitality license.

While these regulations certainly impose a limit on rentals, they might lead to higher-quality accommodations overall, so you can still live like a local in the City of Light.